Fury at UK's plans to ship hot waste out to Kyrgyzstan

THE UK is planning to send 1800 tonnes of uranium-contaminated waste for processing in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in central Asia. Though the move is fiercely opposed by environmental groups, the companies are expecting approval for the plan within weeks, New Scientist has uncovered.

The material, which is owned by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), is being stored in 10,600 drums at the Springfields reactor fuel manufacturing plant near Preston in north-west England. The waste is mainly graphite left over from 50 years of making fuel for the UK’s Magnox first-generation reactors. It is too radioactive to be disposed …